Adopt a Hawaiian donkey in California–the coast is clearer in Kona

Despite noting the “donkey crossing” signs along the highway and drinking Coffees of Hawaii’s Kona Nightingale Kona coffee (100 percent, thank you very much), I have to admit I’ve never actually seen a Kona nightingale, i.e. one of the feral donkeys roaming the mountainside of the Kona-Kohala coast, whose nighttime forays across the roads are a legendary hazard. But now it turns out I could adopt one right here in California.

That’s because 120 of the wild jackasses have been relocated to the Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue sanctuary in Tehachapi (Kern County), according to Sunday’s AP report, which said the Humane Society of the United States had chartered their flight on Saturday. And soon you can adopt one for just $200 ($100 for additional donkeys.)

According to Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, the donkeys will have received a thorough medical evaluation, thde-worming and vaccinations, and the males will have been castrated (sorry, boys.) But there is one strong caveat on the Web site: “These donkeys are wild. If you do not have experience with donkeys we STRONGLY recommend that you consider adopting one of our gentled donkeys instead.”

You’ll probably need to wait in any case until Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue releases a series of videos, to be shot at its Oct. 29 Open House, “to help instruct you on how to properly handle and care for your wild Hawaiian donkey.”

The decidedly nonnative mammals were originally imported to work on the often steep coffee plantations on the island’s dry side, but once they were no longer needed, they became wild — and part of the lore of Hawai’i. According to AP, the recent drought conditions on the Big Island started bringing hundreds down into more developed areas near the coast (mmm, yummy landscaping), “where they have disrupted traffic and made other trouble for humans, inspiring a search for new homes.”

But that doesn’t mean all the donkeys are gone from Hawai’i. In fact, if you want to guarantee you’ll spot one, you can check out Donkey Tales of Hawaii, which offers children’s rides, adventures and camping with donkeys at Kapapala Ranch in Kea’au, on the Hilo side. To these outfitters, donkeys aren’t just a traffic hazard:

Donkeys act as a positive focus for interactive behavior and provide the motivation to use language, balance and coordination skills. Donkeys have a calming influence on children and adults. Our programs assist in the development of social skills which facilitate relationship building. The donkeys help foster self esteem, personal responsibility, respect and trust. The therapeutic value of the link between animals and humans is now recognized and used by many organizations throughout the world.

So welcome, donkeys of Hawai’i to California. Hopefully you’ll be shown the same aloha we Californians are when we go to the islands–even if we, too, can be jackasses sometimes.

P.S. Because I’ve always been afraid to pull over suddenly to take a photo of the Kona donkey crossing signs, and I’ve never been lucky/unlucky enough to see them live, I’m posting below two images from users of moby.com, which hasa “share” feature. Mahalo, viv seattlebonvivant for the highway sign, and Judith Roberts of Kamuela for the shot of donkeys off the upper road on the way to Waimea.